Page 46 of Bent, Not Broken

“River, are you okay?” I asked, poking at his shoulder, my stomach feeling warm and happy. I knew I should eat, should shake myself together mentally before I saw Evan again, because he required concentration, but River looked downright dire.

“You know… that thing you overheard?” His eyebrows raised as he noted the extra cherry in his drink, and he pulled it out of the glass, sucking it into his mouth as he finally made eye contact with me. He searched out Jaden with his gaze, who winked at River on his way past to the other end of the bar, and with that River’s spine straightened out so he wasn’t all slumped. I smiled at River to lift his spirits, and he tried to smile back, but it didn’t quite happen.

“Yeah, I don’t forget much. Especially my boss beating the weasel in his office.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, it turned out that… um, that guy—”

“Sir?” I asked and then giggled.

He shot me a disgruntled look and grabbed the bar as someone jostled into him, then apologized briskly on their way past behind us. “Yeah, him. Turns out that he had… someone who lives with him. They were looking for a unicorn.”

“What’s that?” I drank the last of my Creamsicle martini, not sure what number I was on anymore, and licked at my lips. He stared at me for a second, so I blew him a kiss like an ass, and his cheeks pinked up.

“A unicorn in this context,” he said, dry as can be, “is someone who is verse and wants to be in a three-way relationship with a master and their other sub.”

He said that info so fast that it took my muddled brain a second to pick it apart, but when I did, my mouth fell open for a second. “So, the other person in this threesome was—”

“Another bottom who wanted to be topped by two guys.” He wrinkled his nose and snorted, somewhat attractively, given everything, and picked the other cherry out of his glass to munch on it. “Might have considered it, if they both wanted to top me.”

“Wow, did you see that coming?”

He slanted a death glare my direction.

“I’m sorry,” I managed to say, and then lifted my drink to hide behind it so I wouldn’t laugh again. Would have worked better if my glass wasn’t empty. I ended up snickering.

“I know, it’s a shitwreck mess. I got… entangled. Wasn’t acting like myself there for a while, either. Doing… well, never mind, it’s my office, but I wasn’t being professional. That’s why I care about you, Madden. We both gotta pull it together, or we’ll be on our stomachs for some big law firm, working for peanuts and taking it dry. I’m too old for that shit. I need some primping beforehand. I’m not cut out for sixteen-hour workdays.”

He said that last part rather loud, and Jaden slowed on his way by again to give him a long side-eye. I made the universal sign of please bring my tab and don’t throw me and my drunk friend out because I tip well. Mainly it looked like me scribbling in midair with a fake pen while shooting Jaden my brightest smile.

River managed to be down for the count before Bar Row even got their fun neon lights buzzing in all the windows for the night. I helped him into an Uber sometime around nine o’clock, which left me just enough time to wander my drunk ass down the street and head for Sinful, even though it was still painfully early for that scene. I texted Evan on my way.

Sinful was a bland two-story brick building that I knew from many long nights of drunken experience was hollowed out inside and maybe had been a warehouse at some point. The tall windows decorating the top of the second story flashed with sparkles of purple and white lights reflected from the dance floor. I only stood outside for about ten minutes exchanging commiserative texts with a drunk River, when Evan strolled up to me and my mouth went dry. He wore jeans, and cowboy boots that really worked for him, and a black button-up with the sleeves rolled so I got a good look at his strong forearms. My phone was immediately unimportant as he stopped inches too close to only be friendly, and his crisp, clean cologne attacked my senses. I slid another inch closer to him.

“Do I even need to buy you a drink?” he asked when I rocked back on my heels and had to cling to his arm to not do something unattractive, like flail.

“I’m a cheap date,” I whispered, “but you already knew I would go home with you.”

He laughed, and I didn’t expect it, but he hooked his arm around my waist and guided me through the front doors. We were early enough they weren’t charging a cover yet, and while they stopped me and scrutinized my ID like I was trying to steal the Declaration of Independence, they simply waved Evan through. Sighing, I followed after him, and he laughed. The music inside was an instrumental techno mix that left something to be desired, but was easy to grind to.

“Not sure I’m drunk enough for this yet,” he yelled over the music.

Tugging him down toward me with a hand on his shoulder, I said in his ear, “You promised me a drink. I demand compensation.”

Evan’s smile crinkled up his eyes and stole my breath. We’d never done something this normal before, and I was surprised how much I liked it. He didn’t hold my hand or anything like that, but we did make it through a small crush of college-aged kids, who seemed like they might all be in the same frat, to arrive at the bar together. Once there, we both had two shots of a particularly nasty tequila— the special for the night. Laughing over how disgusting the drinks were, we drifted toward the dance floor, which already had a few early takers.

All in all, as far as first dates were concerned, ours wasn’t starting badly. He found us a shadowy corner where the pulsing lights from the DJ booth barely reached, and he drew me close to his strong body. I’d had a day already, and even though the music was so loud I couldn’t think about much, let alone talk, I snuggled against his chest. My stomach melted and went happy, and my groin took quick notice of the miles of delicious man I was propped up against.

Shockingly, or maybe not, Evan was good at shifting his hips to the beat, and before too long he slid his hand down my back to press me closer. I explored my palms upward across the hard, perfect muscles of his chest to rest them in the dip where his chest became his neck. He ducked his head and stared into my eyes while he ground his groin against my stomach. He wasn’t subtle, and neither was his hard-on. Before I knew it, I’d tipped my head back, begging for his mouth. He closed the distance swiftly and gave me what I wanted. His kiss started out softly and turned into a storm of nips, and my head was spinning as he slid his hands down to pull me tight to his front as he rocked against me. My dick brushed his thigh, and the sizzle of need that slammed my gut had me moaning.

My heart raced when he pulled back to level another intense gaze on me, and I realized we’d been making out in public. All at once, the same thought seemed to hit him because he blinked and stared around us at the other dancers that had begun drifting closer as the floor filled and the hour grew later. No one paid any attention to us, however, and he bent to say in my ear, “Can I go back to your place with you? My bed isn’t made.”

Laughing, I nodded and found myself biting my lip, acting all goofy. I blamed the booze. We were both turned on, but I figured if anyone was going to stare, it would be at the giant fucking man with the dick that launched a thousand blow jobs, and not me, so I straightened my suit jacket as much as I could and leaned into his hold. My stomach flooded with contented warmth when he kept his arm around my shoulders as we left the dance floor, and he didn’t seem in any big hurry to stop holding me.

“What happened with Conrad?” I asked as we left the front doors of Sinful and I could finally hear again. The cool air woke me up a bit and I shivered against him.

He laughed. “Conrad remembered coming to my place and getting mad, but not why. Smooth, going out the window.”

“I’m not just another pretty face,” I said with a wink and turned into him. I ran my hands up the soft shirt over his front again and loved every second of it when he gripped my waist and bent down toward me. A soft night breeze ruffled my hair and I closed my eyes.